Way Down We Go
by tea-induced scribbles
Summary: Slightly AU; Short Fiction. Completed. It's set after 1x04 Dead Reckoning. He said 'I love you, just stay the hell away from me' and now he wants her back. Danny and Kara have a moment.


_A/N: So suffering a little writer's block but this little tidbit entered my brain and decided to get it out. It's completely unrelated to all my current stories and is a short fiction that is complete. Set after 1x04 Dead Reckoning, slightly AU. Please Enjoy! :)_

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Kara folded her laundry with sharply as she was doing her best to carry on. It was hard to do when majority of people thought she'd be riding a high of a successful mission when she felt it was a failure. It wasn't just the secret of the fact their mission was a failure that sat on her shoulders but the burden of knowing the man she loved broke up with her and blamed their near failure on her. He uttered he loved her and in the next sentence he told her to stay away. Not the cutsey 'stay away' like they were playing a coy game but utter disgust and anger 'stay away' like she had betrayed him. She had deconstructed the whole memory in her brain trying to figure out why she was the guilty party. Why she felt like she'd failed but all she came back with was a broken heart, tears and very little sleep.

The door to her and Alisha's quarters opened and closed. Kara kept folding assuming Alisha had forgotten something or was going to tell her to get some sleep. Sharing a small room left no secrets about one's lack of sleep. No matter how quiet Kara was her friend seemed to be so in tune with her to know she was in pain and couldn't sleep as her brain wouldn't shut up.

"Kara"

Kara turned with wide eyes as Danny was standing in her quarters with the door closed. "Are you insane?" she snapped at him as she wanted to kiss him but also wanted to sucker punch him for the pain his presence gave her.

His words from 96 hours ago cutting deep and as fresh they did the second he uttered them. 'I love you, just stay the hell away from me.' Tears threatened to fill her eyes but she swallowed the lump down and looked anywhere but at him. She'd done as he asked and stayed the hell away from him, she made certain by eating in the enlisted mess instead of the wardroom. Yet now here he was in her space.

"Get out." She told him in a firm tone tapping into her anger as she didn't want to be the weak woman she felt she was. She'd broken rules, her own code and principles thinking he was worth it.

"Please hear me out." Danny said in a placating manner.

"Before or after you tank my career? If someone finds out you're here I'm toast while you get a slap on a wrist and lecture like kid with his hand stuck in the cookie jar." Kara told him, it was bad enough he broke her heart but now he wanted to talk about 4 days later in her quarters where anyone could discover them and think the worst. Hell, it was the worst and she probably deserved it. "What do you want?" she asked, deciding it was best to let him talk and then get him as far away her person as possible.

"Kara-" He held his hands up surrender, his expression pleading. She saw her own pain reflected in his features and wondered if it was real or if he was just putting on a show. The manoeuvre of him being here just made her feel so small and pathetic for even getting involved with him in the first place. She felt betrayed not by just him but herself. She was so damn weak and he was just rubbing the salt into that wound to her pride.

"Don't, you made it clear to stay away from you and I have. So why are you following me? Why are you here when I'm doing as you demanded and given you a wide berth since that night?" she asked him, she was hurt and felt like he was toying her but even her rational mind knew it was a small ship. There was no way they could always avoid one another forever given the circumstances.

"I want- " Danny sighed "I'm sorry." he said genuinely. His apology made her eyes fill with tears, she pursed her lips as she didn't find any relief in his apology but just anger and disappointment. Disappointment that it was all he could say to her,

"You broke my heart, you think an apology is going make things better? You didn't have to slow that boat but you sure as shit blame me for being your distraction, your problem. Something I never wanted to be, I thought we were professional enough to let our relationship not affect our work but it has. So no matter what you have to say to me other than you're sorry, the damage is done an we can't fix it. So just go before you make things worse than what they already are for me." Kara told him, hoping he'd just go given she wasn't going to be a doormat and welcome him back into her life after what he'd said.

"No, you're going to hear me out." Danny told her.

"You made it clear that night what you wanted to say. I heard you." Kara assured him.

"I'm a moron, I was the moron who couldn't keep the lines clear emotionally an professionally. That is on me for not trusting you and your strength, for not having faith in both of us. I lashed out at you because I don't do this. I don't sleep with women while deployed let alone relationships-"

"So I should feel special for screwing you up?" Kara asked, she wanted to shout at him but knew the walls were thin. So her voice came out low and harsh.

"No, damn- I'm not good at this." he muttered, he heaved a sigh "I love you, I love you so deeply that it scares me. I lashed out because of I was scared to death of losing you to the point I nearly blew the mission and didn't know how to process that in the moment. I promise I will make this up to you. Please just let me try, give me a chance. I'll be, do anything for you. Please give me a second chance." Danny begged her,

Kara looked at him for the longest moment as silence fell between them. She really wanted to punch him but his words weakened her resolve as she understood why he was here. He wanted them to be together but she wasn't sure she could do that. She knew she should be jumping for joy but given how quickly he dropped her after announcing his love for her left her wary.

"I need time." Kara told him, it was a compromise for them both. It was also the best she could give him as she cared but needed time to trust him again. Needed to believe he could do better in their relationship and that she could feel secure in their relationship.

"Ok." Danny nodded, he turned to leave but Kara tugged on the arm of his BDU Jumper, he turned an she pressed herself against him as she reached up and pulled his face own to hers. Her lips brushed his in a soft bittersweet kiss, Danny wrapped his arms pulled her against him an kissed her deeper, harder, rougher; his tongue stroke against hers.

Kara broke the kiss, wishing it would miraculously fix everything but it didn't. It just complicate things as she loved him but couldn't see how to move forward but was unwilling to let him go. Her hands fisted in the fabric of his jumper loosened, she smoothed the fabric trying to catch her breath, trying to calm her raw nerves. Danny seemed to understand her completely as pressed a kiss to her forehead.

"Time. Give me time." she repeated in a hushed tone. She gently pushed away from him; he reluctantly let her go. They share a long look before he gave a nod an left the room. Kara turned to her back to the door and sat own on the bed, feeling more lost as to what to do than ever before but at least it was a step forward.


End file.
